In this new release, Woody shares his full work on memorized deck that not only teaches you how to easily memorize his stack but also teaches you a hand full of amazing effects.

More info:
https://www.murphysmagic.com/Product.aspx?id=58232

Best regards,
Titanas

Message:

Posted by: Boomer (Apr 28, 2017 02:14PM)

Been waiting for this, just pre-ordered from Vanishing INC.

Dave

Message:

Posted by: Daren (Apr 28, 2017 02:27PM)

Ordered!!!

Message:

Posted by: adiabaticman (Apr 28, 2017 06:41PM)

Me too!

Message:

Posted by: Boomer (Apr 28, 2017 08:27PM)

I started memorizing Mnemonica, but with this coming out, feel like I may want to switch.

I have some apps to help me, but none of them have the Aaragon stack installed.

Do I need to wait for the book to come out, or is it in another resource as well.

Dave

Message:

Posted by: Blindside785 (Apr 29, 2017 01:24AM)

I just memorized Mnemonica and have been working and playing with it for the past month. Another stack to learn, bring it!

Message:

Posted by: puggo (Apr 29, 2017 01:30AM)

[quote]On Apr 28, 2017, Boomer wrote:
I started memorizing Mnemonica, but with this coming out, feel like I may want to switch.
I have some apps to help me, but none of them have the Aaragon stack installed.
Do I need to wait for the book to come out, or is it in another resource as well.
Dave [/quote]

Ultimate stack trainer app - you can program in any stack.
Charlie

Message:

Posted by: adiabaticman (Apr 29, 2017 01:46AM)

Hi Boomer, I am by no means an expert. When I decided to memorize a stack, initially I had trouble deciding. But I just went ahead and memorized the Aronson stack since I had his books. I am very glad I did. I may decide to memorize a different stack (like Woody's) in the future if I really want the built in features but unlikely. If you have started memorizing mnemonica, it is probably best to continue. It is not that hard to switch if you really want to. But if you wait for the best stack for you, you may never get to memorizing any stack. Just my thoughts. I don't know anything about Woody's stack. I am eagerly waiting for my copy of the book.

Message:

Posted by: Karl M (Apr 29, 2017 06:22AM)

Looks like it a interesting book but I did what Darwin Ortiz said for me to do and just shuffled a pack and that that became my own personal stock for me,and I swiched a few cards about for built in tricks as well and I called it the mathers mathemagical stack and I'm writing a PDF about it but I might still get woodys book for the tricks and newances and stuff like that,thats if its any good compared to my own stuff

Woody Aragon has posted the table of contents of his new book. I have a question about it: what does "Non stack dependants" mean? Does it mean that those tricks do not depend on any particular stack and can be performed using any memorised stack?

Message:

Posted by: Boomer (May 1, 2017 11:50AM)

@ adiabaticman,

Wanted to thank you for your post, you're so right, that if I don't nail one down, I'll never get to it.

Dave

Message:

Posted by: adiabaticman (May 1, 2017 12:01PM)

Pnerd, yes you are right.

Message:

Posted by: adiabaticman (May 1, 2017 12:07PM)

Dave, you are welcome! Memorizing any stack puts you in such a good position. Even non mem deck tricks can be elevated to a new level. It also becomes easier to decide if a different stack is better.

Message:

Posted by: Ultrahaggis (May 2, 2017 05:26AM)

If you preorder the book from Vanishing Inc you have the option of buying the Memory Arts book
adapted to Memorandum stack as a download for half price. So I've started learning the stack
already and can't wait for the book.

Having seen Woody perform and chatted to him at The Session I know the material in here is
just drop dead astonishing :) :) :)

Message:

Posted by: Boomer (May 2, 2017 01:10PM)

Just picked it up, thanks for pushing me over the edge @Ultrahaggis

Dave

Message:

Posted by: civins (May 3, 2017 08:08AM)

[quote]On May 2, 2017, Ultrahaggis wrote:
If you preorder the book from Vanishing Inc you have the option of buying the Memory Arts book
adapted to Memorandum stack as a download for half price. So I've started learning the stack
already and can't wait for the book.

Having seen Woody perform and chatted to him at The Session I know the material in here is
just drop dead astonishing :) :) :) [/quote]

Is it necessary to buy the memory arts book? The contents of memorandum suggests there is a section in Woody's book on memorising the stack

Message:

Posted by: Boomer (May 3, 2017 09:54AM)

Nope, not necessary, just a nice addition for some. It's not for everybody, but at $12.50, I wanted to check it out.

Dave

Message:

Posted by: Boomer (May 8, 2017 04:47PM)

USPS left me a nice package today.

Message:

Posted by: rmorrell (May 12, 2017 06:57AM)

Did anyone else pre-order/pre-pay for this at The Session Convention in January, and if so have you received your copy yet?

Message:

Posted by: Olivier7 (May 12, 2017 08:17AM)

Yes, I did pay for one at The Session but haven't received anything yet. Last weekend, Woody told me the book should be with me this Friday or early next week.

Message:

Posted by: jbadman (May 12, 2017 01:56PM)

I'm still waiting on it too. Woody told me he'd the same as Olivier.

Have to admit I'm a little disappointed that I pre-ordered yet am getting it after others. It's a shame pre-orders weren't shipped to arrive on release day.

It's nice to support the creator by buying direct, for sure, but this does suck just a little bit!

Jamie

Message:

Posted by: Karl M (May 12, 2017 02:22PM)

Ha ha,already got mine one mate,worth the wait for it

Message:

Posted by: Daren (May 12, 2017 02:36PM)

Yep an incredible book, the Siamese section is worth the price of the book!!

Message:

Posted by: rmorrell (May 19, 2017 01:19PM)

Mine arrived today, had a quick skim and can't wait to dive into it over the next few days!

Message:

Posted by: BMWGuy (May 19, 2017 11:57PM)

Hey guys

i will be reviewing this fully on Sunday night, stay tuned.

Alex Alejandro

that way if you are on the fence or not sure you can decide whether or not to purchase.

thanks

Message:

Posted by: korttihai_82 (May 20, 2017 07:53PM)

Read thru the book during the weekend and well.... Well I am perhaps not the right person to read the book in the first place. Some background mind be in order; I have used Tamariz stack from the late 1990's so I used stack way before using them became a common thing and most average magicians werent even aware that memorizing a whole deck of cards was a thing. Of course since I have read pretty much all the published works on stack by Aronson, Close, Ortiz, Tamariz, Mead ect. I have never really cared about the "build in tricks" in any of the stacks. I understand that they mean much to the authors and that was the reason why they were included in their stacks but in most cases they are not for me. I can pretty safety say that only option in Tamariz stack that I have ever used is to get in and out of new deck order. I also use stack mainly for lay audiences.

This brings me to Aragons memoradium. First of all; It is a new stack... I have been happy with mnemonica for +15 years so why in the world would I want to change? Well... I don't. Although Aragon stack seems to be really good and it seems to be filled with build in features none of them interests me enough to put in the work to forget one stack and memorize another.

First 200 pages or so in the book describe the stack and lots of its build in features. There is tons of them! Poker deals, spelling tricks, tricks out of "Book in English" ect. If you don't already know a stack this certainly is really good option! But if you do know a stack this is 200 pages of material that relies on the properties of this particular stack and therefore it is useless to you unless you plan on learning a new stack...

Then comes the good part; Siamese stack! Next 100 or so pages cover devious new style memdeck that has some really killer applications! Good thing about this idea is that at least from first reading it seems that it can be adapted to any stack that one might already be using. This chapter is filled with routines that would also fool most magicians who are familiar with memdeck work. However there is a price to pay for these miracles; you kinda need something extra with you and it is two edged sword. The price isn't huge and it opens up a new world in memdeck world. But in my case I am not sure if I still would be willing to carry the extra things with me instead of going with just a deck since I am not so sure if the lay audiences can feel and see the difference in effects that this new way of thinking opens up. All I can say is that this work is one of the most ingenious thinking in memdeck or card magic that I have read in ages and it made the book well worth it for me even if I don't end up using any of it.

So who is this book for? If you don't use a memdeck this is certainly up there with mnemonica and could be a great option. You get a good stack with tons of build in features and some of them are really devious! BUT if you already do use a stack then you have to ask yourself if you would be willing to change or learn a new stack since the material in this first book is extremely stack dependable. I assume that most of the non stack dependent routines will be in vol.2. But again, this might be worth it just for the chapter and thinking on siamese stack.

J-M

Message:

Posted by: Doctor D (May 21, 2017 07:12AM)

Thanks for the indepth post, J-M. Much appreciated.

Message:

Posted by: BlackZ (May 21, 2017 01:29PM)

Nice post... thanks

Message:

Posted by: KatieD (May 22, 2017 02:48PM)

J-M - Thank you for the review. I have never used a memdeck or memstack before, so it sounds like this book would be perfect for someone like me. I'm also up for the challenge of trying to memorize an entire deck of cards, and having all these built-in features sounds like icing on the cake!

Hopefully I will post a few after I get mine and play around with it! :)

Message:

Posted by: Steven Leung (May 22, 2017 09:19PM)

J-M, thanks for the review, it make me start wonder what if the application of Siamese stack into Mnemonica...?

Message:

Posted by: m.o.pfeil (May 23, 2017 04:30AM)

I got the book and the Memory Arts Ebook for it and it is a wonderful combination. I like the memory arts approach and use it for other stuff as well now.

Message:

Posted by: korttihai_82 (May 23, 2017 03:31PM)

[quote]On May 22, 2017, Steven Leung wrote:
J-M, thanks for the review, it make me start wonder what if the application of Siamese stack into Mnemonica...? [/quote]

Siamese stack was originally developed to be used with Mnemonica so it works just fine :)

J-M

Message:

Posted by: Drtriage (May 23, 2017 04:40PM)

[quote]On May 20, 2017, korttihai_82 wrote:
Read thru the book during the weekend and well.... Well I am perhaps not the right person to read the book in the first place. Some background mind be in order; I have used Tamariz stack from the late 1990's so I used stack way before using them became a common thing and most average magicians werent even aware that memorizing a whole deck of cards was a thing. Of course since I have read pretty much all the published works on stack by Aronson, Close, Ortiz, Tamariz, Mead ect. I have never really cared about the "build in tricks" in any of the stacks. I understand that they mean much to the authors and that was the reason why they were included in their stacks but in most cases they are not for me. I can pretty safety say that only option in Tamariz stack that I have ever used is to get in and out of new deck order. I also use stack mainly for lay audiences.

This brings me to Aragons memoradium. First of all; It is a new stack... I have been happy with mnemonica for +15 years so why in the world would I want to change? Well... I don't. Although Aragon stack seems to be really good and it seems to be filled with build in features none of them interests me enough to put in the work to forget one stack and memorize another.

First 200 pages or so in the book describe the stack and lots of its build in features. There is tons of them! Poker deals, spelling tricks, tricks out of "Book in English" ect. If you don't already know a stack this certainly is really good option! But if you do know a stack this is 200 pages of material that relies on the properties of this particular stack and therefore it is useless to you unless you plan on learning a new stack...

Then comes the good part; Siamese stack! Next 100 or so pages cover devious new style memdeck that has some really killer applications! Good thing about this idea is that at least from first reading it seems that it can be adapted to any stack that one might already be using. This chapter is filled with routines that would also fool most magicians who are familiar with memdeck work. However there is a price to pay for these miracles; you kinda need something extra with you and it is two edged sword. The price isn't huge and it opens up a new world in memdeck world. But in my case I am not sure if I still would be willing to carry the extra things with me instead of going with just a deck since I am not so sure if the lay audiences can feel and see the difference in effects that this new way of thinking opens up. All I can say is that this work is one of the most ingenious thinking in memdeck or card magic that I have read in ages and it made the book well worth it for me even if I don't end up using any of it.

So who is this book for? If you don't use a memdeck this is certainly up there with mnemonica and could be a great option. You get a good stack with tons of build in features and some of them are really devious! BUT if you already do use a stack then you have to ask yourself if you would be willing to change or learn a new stack since the material in this first book is extremely stack dependable. I assume that most of the non stack dependent routines will be in vol.2. But again, this might be worth it just for the chapter and thinking on siamese stack.

J-M [/quote]

I suppose there are 3 reasons that someone may buy this book (or Patrick Redford's 'Temporarily Out Of Order'):
1) to learn a memorised deck (utilising, if wanted, its built-in effects)
2) for a user of an existing memorised deck to learn some 'stack independent' tricks (and related handlings)
3) to use the stack, without the memory work, for the built-in tricks

(it could be 1, 2, 3 or 2+3).

I suspect most people who are interested in Aragon's or Redford's books are existing mem-deck users who are interested in 2 and/or 3 above.

Has anyone bought both books and wishes to comment from an existing mem-deck user's perspective? (the above quoted review on this book is very helpful)

Message:

Posted by: BMWGuy (May 24, 2017 12:05PM)

Hey guys,

So this is a big book to review all at once, I have read the first 150 pages or so, where Woody explains his stack, teaches it, tricks with half stack, and tricks with full stack.

I havent yet got to the part with the Siamese Stack, but I suspect this is similar to something I saw from Vincent Hedan called Multitude, but I may be wrong.

On the upside, this is a brilliant book, congratulations to Woody.

Now I need to purchase Patrick's

Alex

Message:

Posted by: AntonF (May 24, 2017 12:31PM)

[quote]On May 24, 2017, BMWGuy wrote:
Hey guys,

So this is a big book to review all at once, I have read the first 150 pages or so, where Woody explains his stack, teaches it, tricks with half stack, and tricks with full stack.

I havent yet got to the part with the Siamese Stack, but I suspect this is similar to something I saw from Vincent Hedan called Multitude, but I may be wrong.

On the upside, this is a brilliant book, congratulations to Woody.

Now I need to purchase Patrick's

Alex [/quote]

Nothing to do with Hedan's idea, that it is an original idea from Woody and no c*t cards or something like that. Perhaps you can do it at your own, and mix ideas (Woody talks about it inside the book), but the original idea of the Siamese stack it is not like Multitude at all.

Message:

Posted by: Luke Dancy (May 24, 2017 05:28PM)

Want to know more about this highly anticipated new release? Check out the replay of our live Q&A interview with Woody!
[youtube]8qAs3_HLSj4[/youtube]

Message:

Posted by: movemonkey (May 25, 2017 12:24AM)

How many people who already use mnemonica will switch to this?
what are THE killer effects that worth you to learn this new stack?
people who cannot do 100% accurate faro shuffle can forget about this?

Message:

Posted by: Vincent Hedan (May 29, 2017 04:22AM)

[quote]On May 24, 2017, BMWGuy wrote:
I havent yet got to the part with the Siamese Stack, but I suspect this is similar to something I saw from Vincent Hedan called Multitude, but I may be wrong.[/quote]

The Siamese stack is a great idea and has no link to my Multitude :)
I was inspired by Val Evans' Multieffect deck, as well as ideas on it by Weber, Tamariz and Hartling.
Woody's idea has a different inspiration, handling, effects, etc.
You could combine both and play with it though.

There's an app in Google Play called "Mnemonicosis" that includes Tamariz's, Woody's, Aronson's and other stacks.
Although I'm a bit late, I hope you still find it useful!

Message:

Posted by: Waterloophai (Jun 25, 2017 08:22AM)

[quote]On May 25, 2017, movemonkey wrote:people who cannot do 100% accurate faro shuffle can forget about this? [/quote]
People whan can do 100% accurate and perfect faro shuffle all the time don't exist.

Message:

Posted by: AntonF (Jun 26, 2017 12:46AM)

[quote]On May 25, 2017, movemonkey wrote:
How many people who already use mnemonica will switch to this?
what are THE killer effects that worth you to learn this new stack?
people who cannot do 100% accurate faro shuffle can forget about this? [/quote]

You do not need to switch to this deck. Inside the book there are great ideas that you can combine with your own stack, for example Siamese stack tricks. You can even go from Woodys deck to Mnemonica and viceversa, and best of all, forget about faro shuffle. You don't need it at all, as you do in mnemonica, or you can use antifaro shuffle.

Message:

Posted by: Drtriage (Jun 26, 2017 12:23PM)

[quote]On Jun 25, 2017, Waterloophai wrote:
[quote]On May 25, 2017, movemonkey wrote:people who cannot do 100% accurate faro shuffle can forget about this? [/quote]
People whan can do 100% accurate and perfect faro shuffle all the time don't exist. [/quote]

But we can do minor corrections when required and do it right most of the time. (Eg the other day, I opened a new deck of Superior playing cards and straight away did 8 out faros to take it back to original order)

Message:

Posted by: DavidKenney (Aug 27, 2017 03:42PM)

If someone were approaching A deck stack for the first time where would YOU send them?

Memorandum

Temporarily Out of Order?

Message:

Posted by: sgtgrey (Aug 27, 2017 05:23PM)

Between the two, probably TOOO. But if this is someone's first time ever with a mem deck, I'd point them to Mnemonica and also the works of Simon Aronson first.

Message:

Posted by: DavidKenney (Aug 27, 2017 06:21PM)

Bound to Please BEFORE the other two?

Message:

Posted by: One Inch Man (Aug 29, 2017 05:36AM)

[quote]On Aug 27, 2017, DavidKenney wrote:
If someone were approaching A deck stack for the first time where would YOU send them?

Memorandum

Temporarily Out of Order? [/quote]

I would send them to Simon Aronson's website to download his introduction to memorized deck magic 'Memories Are Made of This' (It's free!).